


With This Ring

by Diana Williams (dkwilliams)



Category: Big Eden (2000)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 19:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dkwilliams/pseuds/Diana%20Williams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After ten years, Pike Dexter has the opportunity to marry Harry Hart - the only catch is that he has to go to New York to do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With This Ring

**Author's Note:**

  * For [carolinecrane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/gifts).



With This Ring

_All the days, I have prayed_

_And the love that I have saved_

_With this ring, I'm giving you my all_

-          _This Ring by T Carter_

 

The bell over the door jangled and Pike looked up briefly from the cases he was unpacking, not surprised to see that Jim was the first of the boys to arrive.

“Morning, Pike,” he called out as he headed for the coffee machine.  Jim carefully looked over the array of pods for the fancy new machine Henry had installed the previous Christmas.  “You seen the paper this morning?”

“Nope.”  Pike carefully shifted the top box to the side and continued checking off the goods in the next carton.  “Delivery day.”

 “Right, right.”  Jim chose one of the cappuccino pods and started up the machine.  “Henry get a look at it?”

Pike paused in his count, throwing Jim an exasperated look.  After ten years, it was hardly likely that their routine would have suddenly changed.  “Sleeping when I left the house.”

“’Course,” Jim said, nodding and not appearing to mind Pike’s irritated tone of voice.  “Might want to read it, though.”  He took his cup of coffee and settled on the couch just as the bell jangled again and Lloyd walked in.

“Morning, Pike,” Lloyd said, tucking his book under his arm as he set about making his coffee.  “Read the paper yet this morning?”

“Now, of course he hasn’t,” Jim said, leafing through his own copy of the paper in search of the sports page.  “It’s delivery day.”

“That’s right,” Lloyd said, nodding his head.  “’Spect that Henry hasn’t read it either.”  He settled in his regular chair and opened his book, sipping carefully on his latte.

Pike frowned but he was double-checking the count on bug repellant so he didn’t reply. 

“Morning, boys,” Hank said, entering the store.  “Morning, Pike.”  He headed for the coffee machine, selecting a pod at random.  “Have you – “

“No, he hasn’t read the paper yet, Hank,” Jim said.

Hank gave him a puzzled look.  “Of course he hasn’t – it’s delivery day.  You got the fishing report, Jim?”

Jim handed over the requested section.

“Besides, I expect Mary Margaret will email Henry with the news,” Hank added.

Lloyd shook his head and set about repacking his pipe.  “They best make up their minds before the women hear about it and start making plans.”

Pike gave up.  He set down his clipboard and straightened up.  “All right, I’ll bite.  What am I supposed to have read in the paper this morning?”

Before any of them could reply, Leon pushed open the door and called out, “Pike, you read the paper yet this morning?  Looks like New York passed that law allowing gay marriage last week.”

Everyone turned and looked at Pike.  He shrugged.  “Lots of other states have passed it.  Lots of others haven’t.”

“Yeah, but New York doesn’t have a residency requirement,” Leon said, crossing the store to hand his paper to Pike.   “Says that anyone from any state can go there and get married.”

Pike frowned as he took the paper, scanning the article for the pertinent details.  “Still would be banned here.”

“Could be legal one day,” Jim said. 

“We’ll wait,” Pike said, handing back the paper and returning to the inventory.

Leon shrugged and went to get his coffee.  Lloyd finished packing his pipe and wandered out onto the front porch to smoke it.  Just another day in Big Eden.

***************

Pike always went home early on Wednesdays after starting the day so early; privately, he thought it was compensation for having to leave Henry sleeping alone in the morning.  Henry liked to call it “date night”, even though they never went out; he would be sure to be home early, from wherever he was painting, and Pike would cook something new.   And Henry would say, teasingly, that the odds were high that Pike would “get lucky”.  Personally, Pike thought he’d been lucky ever since the day Henry Hart had stayed in Big Eden.

Daisy jumped up from her bed in the corner of the kitchen when he entered the house, eager for his attention.  It had taken a few months for Pike to accept Henry’s gift to replace the deeply-mourned Frances, but she’d been patient and now he couldn’t imagine life without her.  “Hello, girl,” he said, setting down the box of supplies he’d brought from the store and crouching down to rub the puppy’s ears.  “You hungry?”  She made an affirmative yip and wagged her tail as he poured food into her bowl, then refreshed her water dish.

“That you, Pike?” Henry’s voice called out from the bedroom.  He wandered out, drying his hands on a towel, and leaned up to kiss Pike.  “Everything go okay with the deliveries?  The boys all right?”

“Fine.”  Henry was looking up at him, his smile making the corners of his eyes crinkle, and Pike felt his breath catch in his chest.  He could never get enough of looking at Henry Hart.  Ten years of love and happiness had made Henry more relaxed, more confident – and even more beautiful in Pike’s eyes. 

He must have been staring for too long because Henry gave him a puzzled look.  “What is it, Pike?”

Pike flushed, wishing that he found it easier to express his feelings.  “Um – you missed a spot,” he said, briefly touching a paint mark on Henry’s cheek.

“Really?”  Henry rubbed at the spot with the towel, retreating to the bathroom.  “How did I do that?” he muttered to himself as he disappeared.

Relieved to have a moment to recover, Pike turned to the soothing task of preparing their meal. 

“Delicious as always,” Henry pronounced as they sat down to a dinner of fresh lake trout, and the soft look in his eyes let Pike know that he was remembering the first meal they had shared.  It made Pike’s throat feel a little tight with all the words he wished he could say, but Henry didn’t seem to mind carrying the conversation.  He chatted easily about his day, the way the summer sun had glinted off the lake and how he’d tried to capture that shade in his new painting.  He talked about the upcoming Fourth of July festival, about the barbeque and the dance afterwards.   Pike listened and nodded, paying more attention to the sound of Henry’s voice than what he was actually saying until a name caught his attention.

“I ran into Bird Stewart at the hardware store when I was picking up some linseed oil,” Henry said.  “He was grinning at me like I’d won the lottery and asked if we’d read the paper this morning.  You know what that’s about?”

“Bird is an idiot,” Pike growled, ducking his head to try to hide the sudden flush.

“Well, yeah – I remember him from school, too.”  Henry frowned.  “Is something wrong, Pike?”

Pike sighed and set down his fork.  “The boys were on me all morning about an article in the paper.  New York passed a law last week, allows same-sex couples to get married.”

Henry nodded.  “Mary Margaret said something about that being in the works in her last email, but I don’t get what the boys are excited about.  We don’t live in New York; I gave up my apartment there ten years ago.”

Pike fiddled with his fork, still not looking at Henry.  “It seems that you don’t have to live in New York to get married there.”

“Really?” Henry sounded pleased about that and Pike frowned a bit.  He hadn’t thought about how Henry might feel about the possibility of getting married and the realization that he probably should have considered it before he rejected the idea made him suddenly anxious.

“You – did you want to get married?  Someday, if they pass the law here?”

Henry looked a little surprised by the question, then his face softened and he reached over to lay his hand on Pike’s.  “Yeah.  I’d like to wear your ring, call you my husband.”  Then he smiled ruefully.  “Don’t see that happening here any time soon.”

Pike thought about that, about how wistfully Henry had looked at the wedding band on Anna’s finger a few years back.  He’d thought at the time that it was because Dean had put it there, but maybe it had been just because they had something that he and Pike couldn’t have.

Unless they went to New York to get married.

“Dishes?” Henry asked, breaking into Pike’s thoughts.  “Or do you want to leave them till morning and take me to bed instead?”

Given the choice, Pike would always choose the latter, especially when Henry laughed like that as Pike towed him into the bedroom.

*****************

The next morning, Pike was still feeling a quiet contentedness following a night of making love with Henry as he went about the usual business of restocking shelves.  It helped that the boys had been quiet this morning, beyond their usual gossiping. 

And then Widow Thayer entered the store.

Pike groaned and considered retreating to the back office to work on the books, but that hadn’t proved very successful in stemming the Widow on a mission.  And by the look on her face, she was definitely on one today.

“Congratulations, Pike!” she exclaimed, her face lit up as she advanced on him and grasped his hand in hers before he could retreat behind the counter.  “I am so happy for you and Henry!  I just knew that this day would come, and so it has!”  She released his hand and waved a finger at him.  “Though if I hadn’t broken my promise and told him that it was _you_ doing the cooking, he’d be back in New York right now, and then where would you be?”

“Pike and Henry aren’t getting married,” Jim said, glancing up briefly from his paper.

Mrs. Thayer’s mouth dropped open and she stared first at Jim and then back at Pike.  “Well, whyever not?”

“Wouldn’t be legal here,” Lloyd said from behind his book.

Mrs. Thayer snorted.  “As if that matters!”

“Matters to some,” Hank pointed out.  “Like Pike.”

“Well, it shouldn’t,” she said tartly, and turned back to Pike.  “Now you listen to me, Pike Dexter.  If you have any sense at all, you’ll take that boy to New York and put a ring on his finger.”  She nodded decisively.  “We’ll take care of the reception when you get back – just leave everything up to me.”

With that, she briskly left the store and everyone turned to look at Pike.  He decided that this was a good time to work on the books in the office.

*****************

Friday morning, Pike left the store in the hands of the boys while he took Henry’s watch to Bob Fulbright’s jewelry store on the square to have the face of Henry’s watch replaced.  Hank’s brother looked at cracked face and tutted, then went in the back to look for a replacement.  While he waited, Pike drifted around the shop, glancing at the watches and pendants, skipping over the class rings, and lighting on the wedding bands in the next case.  Among the diamond solitaires and sparkling wedding bands were several gold men’s wedding bands and Pike found himself moving closer, bending over the case to have a closer look.  There were plain ones and diamond studded ones, but the one that caught his attention was a gold band with a starburst pattern etched around it.  He could picture Henry wearing it, the gold glint of the ring around his slender finger, the light catching on the star shapes –

“See something you like, Pike?” Bob asked, coming back into the room.  Pike’s head jerked back up and he flushed scarlet, as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t be.  Seeing where Pike was standing, Bob beamed in delight.  “You boys set a date yet?  Jenny and Carol were in here yesterday, picking out their rings; they’ve decided on a Christmas wedding.”

“I – no – “ Pike stammered, edging towards the door, all his instincts demanding retreat.  “I’ve gotta go.”

“I’ll have the watch ready in the morning - ” Bob called after him, his words cut off as the door swung shut behind Pike.  He hurried down the sidewalk toward his truck, head down so that he wouldn’t see if anyone was staring at him, and just missed knocking Grace over.

“Pike!  What on earth is the matter?” she asked, grasping his arm and looking at him in concern.  “You’re shaking like a leaf – is something wrong with Henry?”

“No – I – I’ve – I’ve got to – get back to the store,” he stammered, trying to pull away.

Grace wasn’t having it, though, and she tightened her hold on his arm.  “I was just at the store and the boys are looking after it just fine.  You can’t drive like this; it isn’t safe.  Come sit down for a few minutes and catch your breath.”

Reluctantly, Pike allowed Grace to coax him into the drugstore.  It was too early for the teens who usually occupied the place during the summer and he settled into a booth in the back corner with a sense of relief.  It was short-lived, though, for once the waitress had brought their coffees and they were alone, Grace turned on him with a determined air.

“What’s got you all stirred up, Pike?  And don’t tell me ‘nothing’ because I saw the look on your face when you came out of the jewelry store.  If Henry’s all right, then what has got you so upset?”

Pike drew in a deep breath and blew it out, staring down into the unwanted cup of coffee.  “I want to marry Henry,” he blurted out, admitting the truth.

Grace blinked.  “Well that’s fine, Pike!  I think that’s a lovely idea.  You mean a commitment ceremony, something like that?”

Pike shook his head.  “New York.” 

“Oh, I see.”  Grace was quiet for a long moment.  “Well, I don’t see why not.”

Pike looked up.  “It’s – _New York_ ,” he said, waving his hand in a way meant to convey the distance and size and crowds and noise of that city.

“There’s ways to get around that,” Grace said encouragingly.  “There are trains if you don’t want to fly, and you don’t have to go to New York City itself – there are a number of smaller, quieter cities.  Mary Margaret would know the kind of place you’d like.”

Grace was right, and Pike could feel his jangled nerves start to quiet.  He toyed with his coffee cup, still not ready to look up at Grace.  “Do you think Henry would agree to go there?  To marry me?”

Grace laughed softly and reached out to pat his hand.  “Oh, Pike!  Henry would agree to jump off a roof if you asked him; don’t you know that by now?  He  _stayed here_ because of you – that was the riskiest thing he’s ever done in his life!  Of _course_ he’ll marry you!”

Pike drew in another deep breath and let it out.  He knew that Grace was right.  “Okay.”  He drained the cup of coffee and stood up.  “Thanks,” he said to Grace, and then headed back to the jewelry store to buy the ring.

****************

Henry was late.

Pike paced back and forth through the living room, resisting the urge to look out the window again.  Henry really wasn’t late; he knew that Friday afternoons were busy at the store, especially in the summer, so he wouldn’t have hurried home, especially if his painting was going well.  Henry wouldn’t have any reason to think that Pike would be home early, pacing the house, on pins and needles and definitely not looking at the small box sitting in the middle of Henry’s dinner plate.

Pike heard a car engine outside and hurried to the window, peering out to see if it was the 4x4 Henry had bought a few years earlier.  It was, and he felt suddenly dizzy as anxiety swept over him.  What if Henry didn’t say ‘yes’?  Half the town would know by now that Pike Dexter had purchased a wedding ring in Henry Hart’s size, and the rest would know by morning.  If Henry turned him down…

“Pike?”  The door banged shut and Henry was suddenly in the room, his hands reaching out for Pike, an anxious look on his face.  “You’re home early – is something wrong?  Are you sick?”

“I’m – I’m fine,” he managed to say, helplessly loving the way Henry’s hands touched his arm, his forehead.  He could not get enough of those touches.  “I’m not sick.”

“Okay.”  Henry looked doubtful – not surprising, since Pike knew he must look strange.  “So why are you home early?  The store okay?”

Pike nodded, dredging up a smile and trying to convey calm with a dash of romantic intrigue.  He wasn’t sure if he managed it, but Henry smiled back in return.  “I thought I’d make you something special for dinner tonight.”

Henry looked puzzled.  “Why?  It isn’t a birthday or anniversary – or have I forgotten something?  I have, haven’t I?” he said, looking suddenly anxious.  “What did I forget?”

Surprisingly, Henry’s sudden anxiety calmed Pike’s nerves and he managed a real smile this time.  “Just go in the kitchen and see.”

“You should have reminded me,” Henry said, heading toward the kitchen.  “You know how bad I am about – “

He stopped dead, staring at the ring box in the middle of his plate.  “Pike?”  Pike could see that Henry’s hands were shaking as he reached out to pick up the box.  He stepped closer so that he could look over Henry’s shoulder as he opened the box, his chest against Henry’s back, and felt the gasp as Henry first saw the ring.

“It’s beautiful,” Henry murmured, and he touched one of the etched stars.  “There are stars.”

“Our stars,” Pike said quietly.  “Henry Hart, will you marry me?”

Henry looked over his shoulder and Pike could see that there were tears in his eyes.  “Are you sure, Pike?  I mean – New York?”

Pike had never been more certain of anything in his life, and he made sure that certainty was in his eyes when he met Henry’s.  “Yes, I’m sure.”

Henry turned in his arms, flinging his arms around Pike’s neck.  “Yes,” he said kissing Pike.  “Yes.”

Pike wrapped his arms around Henry, lifting him off his feet, and Henry wrapped his legs around Pike’s waist as he carried him into the bedroom.

*************

 “It’s a terrible idea,” Henry said over his Skype connection to Mary Margaret the next morning.

“Well, I think it’s a lovely thought,” Mary Margaret replied tartly.  “Don’t you want to marry Pike?”

“Of course I do!  But New York?  You know how Pike is about crowds and strangers.”

“It’ll be fine,” she said reassuringly.  “You’re not getting married in Times Square, after all.  Just leave it all to me.  You’ll fly charter –  you certainly can afford it now.  You’ll stay at our house instead of a hotel.  The wedding can be in our garden and I’ll arrange for a Justice of the Peace to do the ceremony.  You and Pike will only have to go into the city to get the license.  Piece of cake, really.  Speaking of which, do you think Pike would give me that recipe for the double-fudge cookies he made the last time I was there?  And by ‘me’ I mean my housekeeper.”

“You might have to pry it out of his fingers,” Henry said drily, “and fend off half the women here to get to it first.  He’s already been asked to bring a double batch to the picnic on Monday.   But I’ll see what I can do.” 

“You owe me, Henry Hart.”

“Always.”  He smiled at her across the Skype connection.  “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.  Just let me know the date and I’ll take care of everything on this end.”

********************

As usual, gossip in Big Eden traveled faster than the speed of sound, and by Monday everyone in town knew that Pike and Henry were tying the knot.  Most of the boys were helping Pike set out the food he’d brought to the Fourth of July picnic, and the smugness in the air was so thick that Pike thought he might choke on it.  But he allowed the boys their sense of accomplishment as he straightened out the platters of cookies and finger-food. 

Dick Livingston was looking something up on the hand-held computer that his daughter had given him for Christmas, with Bird peering over his shoulder as the others drank beer and discussed reception ideas like the Big Eden branch of Martha Stewart’s fan club.  “Says here that there’s a twenty-four hour waiting period after you get your license before you can have the ceremony,” Dick said.  “Unless you want to get a Judicial Waiver to get married the same day.”

Bird snickered.  “Gives you the chance to come to your senses and back out – ow!”  He rubbed his shin.  “Why did you kick me?” he demanded of Hank.

“Because you’re an idiot,” Hank said shortly, jerking his head in Pike’s direction.

Pike wasn’t fazed by the comment; a weekend of Henry showing him just how much he wanted to marry Pike (and Pike still had the love-bites to prove it) had gone a long way to settling his anxiety.  “I expect we can wait,” he said, turning one of the platters slightly to give the best presentation of his honeyed chicken fingers.

“So where are you planning to go on your honeymoon?” Lloyd asked as he tamped down his pipe.

Pike looked up with a frown.  “Honeymoon?  Don’t think we’re planning on taking one.”

There was silence as the boys exchanged looks.  “Not taking one?” Leon asked.

Pike shrugged.  “Don’t see much point; we’ve been living together for ten years.”  He thought for a moment.  “I’ll probably close up the store for the week.”

“Last of the romantics, that’s you, Pike,” Wheeler grumbled.

“You all hush,” Jim said from where he was tending his grill.  “It’s Pike and Henry’s decision.”

“What’s our decision?” Henry asked as he strolled up and filched a double-chocolate cookie.

“Honeymoon,” Lloyd said. 

“Oh.”  Henry exchanged a look with Pike.  “We haven’t talked about that yet, but I really don’t know where we’d go if we took one.”

“Hawaii?” Bird suggested.

Henry crinkled his nose.  “Lord, no – I sunburn too easily.  And it’s too touristy.”  He considered.  “Come to think of it, most places are.  And we’re not really the sight-seeing type.”  He looked at Pike again.  “Guess I’d prefer just to stay home, if that’s all right with Pike.”

Pike shrugged in reply and adjusted the cookie platter to hide the fact that one was missing.  He didn’t think he was hiding his smugness any better than the boys had.

**********************

Pike was secretly considering accidentally knocking Dick’s iPad onto the floor the next time he passed by him.  For the last two weeks, he’d been prowling the web and throwing out tips on everything from weddings to keeping the romance in a marriage.  What was worse was that the others were encouraging him.  The previous week, when the question of what he was planning to wear to the wedding had come up, they’d raided his closet and decided that his plain black suit and white shirt wouldn’t do.  Then they’d dragged him off to the city to have him fitted for a new suit - in a charcoal color with a deep red shirt to go with it - a type of torture he hoped he’d never have to endure again.

“Hey, Pike, did you know you can fill out the license application on line before you go?” Dick asked.

Pike nodded as he sorted out the mail.  “Mary Margaret told Henry that last week.”

There was a general silence.  “Well?” Hank asked.

Pike looked up and frowned as he saw seven pairs of eyes on him.  “Well what?”

“Did you fill it out?” Leon asked.

“No.” Pike shrugged.  “I figure we’ll fill it out there.”

“Says here that you can save some time by doing it ahead of time,” Dick said, reading from the screen. 

The eyes were still watching him; Pike gave up and threw the mail back in the bin.  “Fine.  I’ll fill it out.  Happy?” 

He headed for the back office.  There was a general scramble behind him, and by the time he had the computer booted up, there were five people peering over his shoulder.  He glared at them.  “I think I can do this myself.”

They ignored him.  “Says ‘Bride/Groom/Spouse A’ – that’s you, Pike,” Dick said helpfully.

“Surname – that’d be ‘Dexter’,” Bird added.

“He knows his own name, idiot,” Hank said.

“Hey, it says ‘new surname’ – you or Henry plan on changing your name?” Leon asked.  “Or are you gonna do one of those hyphenated names like ‘Dexter-Hart’.”

“Should be ‘Hart-Dexter’,” Wheeler argued.  “Sounds more balanced that way.”

“Neither of us is changing his name,” Pike said shortly.

“Right, ‘cause Henry is famous so he can’t change his,” Dick said.  “And you’re the last of the Dexters here.”

“Don’t know about that,” Bird said, running his fingers through his moustache.  “Might be confusing for kids if they have one or the other for a last name.”

Hank smacked Bird’s arm.  “There aren’t gonna be any kids, idiot!  They’re both men!”

Bird rubbed the sore spot on his arm.  “Well, they might adopt!  Hey Pike, you ever think about adopting?”

“Why would I need to do that when I’ve got all of you to look after?” Pike muttered.

Hank smacked Bird again, just for good measure.

***********************

 It seemed like half of Big Eden turned up at the airport to see them off to New York.   Jim was going with them, as Pike’s Best Man, but the rest of the seven had turned up to wish them well.  Grace and her husband were there as well, and the Widow Thayer, and Dean and Anna and their children. 

“We brought the ‘something borrowed, something blue’,” Dean said, handing them a box that contained the blue tie he’d worn at his own wedding years earlier.

“And ‘something old’,” Grace added, giving Henry her father’s cufflinks.

“And a little something for the flight from all of us,” Hank said, giving Pike a food hamper.  “Not as good as what you make, of course, but there’s champagne as well.”

“Guys – this is too much,” Henry protested.

“Don’t be silly, Henry,” Widow Thayer said.  “What else are friends for?”

“We’re ready to board,” the flight attendant announced, and the Big Eden contingent turned to them to exchange last hugs and back pats.    

Pike felt suddenly closed in and looked around blindly for an escape route.  A cool hand on his arm stopped him, as did Grace’s calm voice saying reassuringly, “Breathe, Pike.  It’s going to be fine.”

Pike drew in a deep breath and looked around the waiting area, his eyes landing on Henry.  As if feeling his eyes upon him, Henry turned and smiled at him, the special smile that crinkled the corner of his eyes.  A warm feeling unfurled inside of Pike and he found himself smiling back before he turned to Grace.

“Yes.  Everything is going to be all right.”

 

***********************

It was the last Saturday of July, and the sun was starting to set behind the mountains.  The band was playing a slow number, and anyone in Big Eden who could get a partner was on the dance floor, swaying to the music.  Henry Hart-Dexter (he had insisted on the name change after all), his husband of less than a day, was wrapped up in his arms, his head resting over Pike’s heart and a smile on his face as they slowly moved to the music. 

They were both tired after a whirlwind two days in New York and two flights cross-country, but tonight they would be sleeping in their own bed for the first time as married men.  But for now, they were dancing close, surrounded by all of their friends and well-wishers, watching the sun go down on Big Eden.

It didn’t seem like it could get any better than this.  But, God willing, they had the rest of their lives to find out.

 

The End


End file.
